NYTimes: Researchers Invent Diabetes Test Device

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> June 10, 2004

>

> Researchers Invent Diabetes Test Device

> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

>

>

> Filed at 7:29 a.m. ET

>

> JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Scientists at Mississippi State University have

> developed a high-tech breath analyzer to detect the early stages of

> diabetes.

>

> Plodinec, the director of MSU's Diagnostic Instrumentation and

> Analysis Laboratory, and Chuji Wang, an assistant research professor,

> worked on the idea together and are seeking a patent.

>

> They hope for commercial distribution.

>

> ``Potentially, in the future, you could install one of these devices in

> the mall,'' Wang said.

>

> Irena McClain, the associate director of the Diabetes Foundation of

> Mississippi, said having the breathalyzer on the market would likely

> increase the number of people who get tested for diabetes.

>

> ``More people would probably get screened at our community screening

> programs if there were a breathalyzer. Some people have a phobia of

> getting their finger stuck, and this would be noninvasive,'' she said.

> ``It would be incredible.''

>

> Plodinec said his interest in breath analysis dated back to his days in

> the military.

>

> ``When I was in Vietnam in the '60s, the Army had developed an

> instrument that could discriminate between Vietnamese and Americans

> based on their breath,'' Plodinec said. ``This sparked my original

> interest in breath analysis.''

>

> He said the idea of detecting diabetes by capturing a sampling of

> breath followed a conversation in which someone pointed out that

> acetone in the breath is a good indicator of the disease.

>

> Plodinec said the most difficult task in detecting acetone is the fact

> that it is present in breath in minuscule amounts, or

> parts-per-billion.

>

> ``Only sensitive instruments in a controlled laboratory setting can

> reliably detect it. But that was good news for us, because we were

> already developing cavity ring-down techniques that are 100 times more

> sensitive than most lab instruments,'' he said.

>

> Continuous Wave Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy, which uses light rays to

> detect contiminates in the breath was developed by Princeton University

> and is used to find a wide range of disease indicators, gaseous and

> environmental pollutants.

>

> ``Chuji had done a great deal of work detecting trace amounts of other

> gases in air, so the application was a natural,'' Plodinec said.

>

> Wang, who completed postdoctoral work at the University of New York at

> Syracuse in 2000 after receiving a doctorate in chemical physics from

> the University of Science and Technology of China, was able to

> demonstrate the feasibility of the breath test.

>

> ``The main advantage is a fast response and it's noninvasive,'' said

> Wang. ``It's better to diagnose diabetes in the early stages, which

> requires a very sensitive instrument.''

>

> The researchers achieved proof of concept, designed a prototype early

> this year and applied for a patent with the U.S. Patent Office,

> initiating a process that usually takes from 12 to 18 months for a

> decision.

>

> McClain said early detection is a key.

>

> ``If you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes or heading in that direction,

> you can turn it around by lifestyle modifications.''

>

> Mississippi has the highest rate of adult onset diabetes in the nation.

> The disease affects the body's ability to produce and use insulin,

> which is a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin is used to get glucose

> (sugar) from food into the cells of the body to be used as a source of

> energy.

>

> The body of a diabetic either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use

> the insulin it produces very well. Type 1 diabetes usually appears in

> children and young adults with Type 2 diabetes usually appears after

> age 40.

>

> However, children who are overweight are at high risk for developing

> Type 2 diabetes. Pregnant women can also develop gestational diabetes,

> which puts them at a greater risk for developing Type 2 diabetes later

> in life.

>

>

>

>